Director: United Way goal attainable

More than 100 persons purchased tickets for the United Way's "Empty Bowls" fund-raiser, held Thursday at First Christian Church. (HERALD photo/Steve Reagan)

As this year's United Way campaign formally ends, officials expressed confidence that the drive's goal will be reached.

The annual campaign, which raises money for various service agencies in Howard County, is about three-quarters of the way to its $250,000 goal as it formally ends today, but several events in the coming months should help officials reach that mark, Executive Director Jeannie Coor said.

Coor pointed to events such as Thursday's “Empty Bowls” fund-raiser as indicative of events that could help the campaign realize its goal. Approximately $2,200 was raised at the event, Coor said.

“Events like (Empty Bowls) are vital,” Coor said. “It's one of our events that really tracks the community's attention … We had around 150 people buy tickets for the event.”

Coor said exact figures were unavailable, but said the drive's $250,000 goal was still very attainable.

“It's going really well this year,” she said. “We're about 75 percent of the way to our goal and we still have several events, like our annual golf tournament, planned for the coming months. So, we're very hopeful that we'll reach our goal.”